Friday 23 March 2012 08.44 EDT
First published on Friday 23 March 2012 08.44 EDT

Chelsea having just lost a game for the first time under the temporary management of Roberto Di Matteo should ensure that his spell in charge at Stamford Bridge will not run beyond the end of the season, Roman Abramovich being the perfectionist he is. The identity of the next Chelsea manager, therefore, will remain a matter for much fevered speculation, although the answer may already be staring the club's owner in the face.

Well, not in the face exactly, but peering out from behind Di Matteo on the Chelsea bench. Already it has been noted that the team's revival since the dismissal of André Villas-Boas has coincided with the calf injury that has forced John Terry, the Chelsea captain, on to the sidelines, from where he has been seen to be shouting instructions to players during matches.

Most managers would not stand for this. It is hard to imagine a crocked member of the Manchester United team sitting behind Sir Alex Ferguson and yelling at his team‑mates to move up, move back, close people down and so on. Di Matteo, however, is apparently happy to let the skipper carry on coaching, which opens up the interesting hypothesis of Terry becoming Chelsea's fourth player‑manager.

For many the idea will be too preposterous to warrant serious discussion given that Terry's distinguished playing career has been more than a little offset by behaviour that has twice cost him the England captaincy and now finds him facing a trial charged with racially abusing another footballer, which he denies. Some quite reasonable people may feel that making Terry a candidate for player-manager would be the equivalent of lining up Abu Hamza as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

In strict football terms, however, the notion surely makes some sense. After all, Chelsea have had some success in appointing experienced players as managers, even if things did eventually end in tears. When Glenn Hoddle left Stamford Bridge in 1996 to take over the England squad, Ruud Gullit succeeded him and led Chelsea to an FA Cup triumph, their first major trophy for 26 years.

An internal dispute meant Gullit left suddenly in February 1998 to be replaced by the club's Italian striker Gianluca Vialli. Chelsea were lying second in the Premier League at the time and finished fourth, with Vialli the joint top-scorer. That season they won the Coca-Cola Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup and Vialli seemed to be making a decent fist of playing and managing.

Yet once he stopped playing and became just another boss the situation changed. Early in the 2000-2001 season, Chelsea having won one of their first five league games, he was dismissed after falling out with several players including Gianfranco Zola, Didier Deschamps and Dan Petrescu.

Maybe player-managers are fated to enjoy their best years all the time they are still in the side with old team-mates. When these retire or just move on the next generation do not see the man who picks the team in such a sympathetic light. Terry would need Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole with him in the Chelsea dressing room while he got to grips with the business of management.

The reality is that the big clubs are far less likely to embrace the notion of making players managers than they were 20 to 30 years ago. Teams in the lower leagues have always been more ready to combine the roles, partly as a way to reduce costs, but Liverpool caused a stir when they appointed Kenny Dalglish in May 1985 on the day after the Heysel disaster.

No player-manager in England has worn the two hats as successfully as Dalglish, despite Liverpool being confined to the domestic competitions, post-Heysel, during his first spell in charge at Anfield. In the 1985-86 season he took Liverpool to their first league and FA Cup Double, scoring the winning goal at Chelsea to secure the championship. It has never been quite the same, then or now, when he has just been the manager.

Maybe the days have gone when a big name on the field can be persuaded to take on the precarious role of management. Many of today's leading players are multimillionaires and do not need the money, still less the aggro. Far better to be a TV pundit and have power without responsibility.

All right, Terry as Chelsea player-manager is just a mischievous fantasy. But at least the post-match quotes would not be dull.

If appointed, John Terry would become Chelsea's fourth player-manager, not third as originally stated.